Big bug, Tarantula Man, Zap Boy and More

Today, I've been reading heroes from Manor Lodge School in Hertfordshire.

Here are some highlights:

Backstories

'Big bug is a hero who was originally an ant but a snake bit him and he grew.' - Anonymous (Manor Lodge School)

Anonymous has provided background for his or her hero, which is important when designing characters.

Above: Big Bug, created by Anonymous using www.heromachine.com.

'Tarantula Man was swallowed alive by a massive tarantula and then half his body got stuck. So now he is a giant, half human, half tarantula.' - Anonymous (Manor Lodge School)

Another fascinating explanation describing the birth of a hero.

Above: Tarantula Man and Cowboy, created by Anonymous using www.heromachine.com.

'Zoe thought her mum died in a car crash but an evil villain actually killed her.' - Charlotte and Karina (Manor Lodge School)

Jaime from Queensgate Foundation Primary School wrote about a hero whose parents had been killed. Perhaps we could combine Jamie's idea with the one above. A hero thinks his parents were killed in a tragic accident, but actually a lumipoo momp or tubster of terror got them.

Above: Thunder Girl, created by Anonymous using www.heromachine.com.

Special Abilities

'Callum has a stretchy body; he can stretch his ears to listen to any secret conversation and can stretch his arms and legs to catch evil monsters.' - By Dani, Katie, Nikita and Gracie (Manor Lodge School)

I like the way that the group has used a physical property (stretchiness) to explain the character's skills.

Captain Stretchy and Carl the Sidekick

'Zap boy is a twelve year old boy that does karate with his Grandpa who lives in Japan.' by Toba (Manor Lodge School).

I'm not a big fan or marital arts but I appreciate the idea of a grandpa who practices karate - it's not what you'd expect.

Smelly Socks, Squashy Squids and a Super-Duper Banana Bomb Maker

Today I've been reading hero characters from St Hardulph's School in Derby, Barford Primary School in Birmingham and another class at St Edward's School in Castle Donington.

Showing / Telling

'The sound of her screaming can be heard from Africa.' - Katie (St Hardulph's)

Katie has shown us how loud her hero is.

'She’s quite heavy so when she hits the ground with a bound it immediately cracks' - Anonymous (St Hardulph's)

Anonymous has shown us how heavy her hero is, as well as telling.

Weaknesses

'She also fears smelly socks, even if she takes a whiff of them she will faint immediately.' - Sara, (Barford)

I can relate to that; I have a brother.

'She is able to help people with her mighty strength, although, because she is so stinky no one really wants her help!' - Ezzah from Barford School.

This is a very amusing weakness. I like it.

Similes

'He smells like blue mouldy cheese.' - Dylan (St Edwards)

'She smells like blue cheese and rotten fish.' - Harriet and Anna (St Hardulph's)

'My hero smells like an attractive skunk smothered in the gravy from under a trash can, along with huge, round, gooey bogies mixed in with pink worms and maggots from trash cans. Delicious right?' - Quacian (Barford)

This is a very imaginative smell. I've never seen an attractive skunk though. What does an attractive skunk look like?

Other Interesting Imagery

'Her favourite food is an alive slimy, slithery, squashy squid, with his tentacles moving like a wiggly worm and another of her favourite foods is roasted bug, she especially likes the red ones because slimy green goo oozes out of her manly mouth.' - Anonymous (St Hardulph's)

The paragraph above is very well written. It includes alliteration, the wonderful word 'ooze' and a brilliant simile about a wiggly worm. The write has even slipped in an adjective to describe her mouth - effective.

Weapons

Luke and Jacob have invented an interesting weapon. I can imagine a tig having a weapon like this.

'Mechanical Max's special skills are that he can kick a football and then the football will open up in o a net which will catch the villains.' - Luke and Jacob (St Hardulph's)

'He is a super-duper banana bomb maker.' - James (St Edwards)

I really love the idea of a hero who makes banana bombs. It's a good example of an interesting, entraining weapon.

Read more about inventing interesting weapons.

An Idea

'He likes to eat words from books, he doesn’t exactly gobble it up in one whole, he licks the words out. It is very healthy for him to do that because it is full of vitamins. Hero-licious doesn’t only do that, he also eats dictionaries, but he doesn’t like to eat a thesaurus' - Quacian (Barford)

Mya has given me an idea. You know how lumipoo momps don't say anything besides 'momp'? What if a lumipoo momp could say a word after eating it? So, if it ate some litter, it might learn 'lemonade' and 'salt and vinegar'. But if it ate a dictionary, it would know how to talk.

Perhaps when you're creating your baddie characters, somebody might like to design a lumipoo momp that learns to speak by eating things with words on them?

Sounds

'Oo aa rooooooor.' - Megan (St Edwards)

Great monster noise! If there isn't a word for it, sound it out.

Other comments

I really enjoyed Banana Girl by Katie (St Hardulph's). An amusing, fruity heroine. However, Banana Girl sounds most effective against Apple Man. I'm not sure how she's fair against tubsters of terror. I hope Katie will write her own super hero / baddie book about fruit people.

Week 3 Tips - Weapons

When you sent me your hero descriptions, I read a lot of details about lasers, swords and guns.

I have a question for you:

Which is most interesting?

A) The hero saw a lumipoo momp chase a little boy. The hero wondered what to do. Then she got out her laser gun and shot the lumipoo momp. It died. The end.

B) The hero saw a lumipoo momp chase a little boy. The hero wondered what to do. So, she grabbed the nearest things she could find: a dustbin lid, a traffic cone and a banana. She put the traffic cone of her head, held out the dustbin lid like a shield, and pointed the banana like a gun. "I am the brave knight, Sir Dust-a-lot!" she yelled. The lumipoo panicked, transformed into puddle mode and slipped away. The little boy ran away to safety. The hero realised that she would need to return the next day, to get rid of the lumipoo once and for all. To be continued ...

Story B is much more appealing than Story A. Why? Because standard weapons are simple and ordinary. Everybody's seen lasers, guns and swords on TV, but if you make up a new weapon, potion or trick, nobody will have heard of it before. The reader will find your characters new and exciting.

Here are a few hero weapons off the top of my head:
- a handbag with a mechanical puppy in it (remember tubster's hate puppies)
- a battery operated hair-dryer (to evaporate lumipoo puddles)
- worms laced with chewing gum (to stick a lumipoo's beak shut so it can't peck any more ankles)
- a false nose (to give to bullies so that they can escape tigs)

Here are a few weapon ideas for the bad guys:
- a paper aeroplane filled with rabbit droppings (for a horrible bully to throw at a tig)
- a spike file (for lumipoo momps to sharpen their spikes)
- super glue swimming trunks (so monsters can glue victims down by their trunks - the stuck victims either have to climb out of their shorts and run away naked or risk being attacked)

It's best if you think up your own weapons. The sillier and more inventive, the more amusing they will be for our readers.

Olly the Owl - A Short Story by Chloe

If you like a beautiful story, then take a moment to read this short tale by Chloe from St Edward's School.

                                                                         Olly the Owl

Olly the owl is a wise old owl, he lives in an old wooden barn in the heart of a dark and eerie forest. Olly has beautiful, snow white feathers that shimmer in the moonlight as he swoops through the trees searching for his evening meal.

He loves the winter and the cold night air, it makes him think about when he was a small owl and used to hunt with his father. It was while he was hunting that Olly discovered the secret that lurked in the dark woods.

One night, Olly saw something that made him feel uncomfortable; he had heard a story about a monster that stole children, but he never thought it was true, but there before his eyes was a big, hairy, purple, monster, which had a child in its hands.

Olly was scared for the child and knew he had to do something quickly! He swooped down quietly behind the monster and bit him as hard as he could, the monster fell to the ground with a thump, Olly bravely got the child and flew away. Then he took her home.

That night Olly was my hero.

By Chloe from St Edward's School

Reasons why this is brilliant

1. Chloe set the scene. She introduced the main character and described its surroundings.
2. She's used poetic language like 'beautiful, snow white feathers that shimmer in the moonlight'.
3. She's given Olly a mini backstory (hunting with his father).
4. She introduced conflict (the hairy purple monster holding the child).
5. She resolved the conflict.
6. She included a twist ending (i.e. something unexpected happened, which changed my understanding of the story). I thought I was reading about a stranger, then the last line says 'Olly was my hero'. So it could actually be a story about Chloe.

Over the next few weeks, we'll learn all about setting a scene, introducing conflict and resolving conflict, just like Chloe did in her story.

Chloe, have you considered making this story into a words and picture book with watercolour illustrations? Such a book would be wonderful.

Badges For School Visits

Great news - my troll badges have arrived. I'm getting some stickers too. I will give them to the hardest working writers when I visit schools.

Brilliant News - A Children's Illustrator is Helping Us

I've got some great news - a children's illustrator is going to help us with our monster book. Her name is Katie W. Stewart and she lives in Australia. I know Katie well because she illustrates my Smelly Troll books.

In a few weeks time, Katie will be offering tips on how to draw illustrations and create a cover for our book. However, this week, she is kindly sketching some of our monster species, to help us visualise them as we create our baddie characters.

Here's her sketch of a lumipoo momp:

I mentioned sketches before. They are quick drawings that can be used to help us create characters.

If you're wondering what Katie's book illustrations are like, here are some examples:

Above: Figure skating trolls in black and white. This type of illustration goes inside a book.

Above: Trolls sledging, in colour. This type of illustration goes on the cover of a book.

Impressive stuff, yarb?

Week 3 Tips - Alliteration

Alliteration is where a series of words begin with the same letter or sound.

For example:

'Terry to Troublesome Troll.'

'It was a scorching, sunny, summer's day.'

'I wondered through the windy, wonderful woodlands."

Using alliteration helps sentences flow nicely and helps draw attention to an important phrase.

Here are some examples you used in your descriptions:

'Slither is a sneaky snake.' - Luke, Tregolls.

'Bobby the Baby of Brilliance' - Alex, St Edwards

'Her favourite food is an alive, slimy, slithery, squashy squid, with his tentacles moving like a wiggly worm' - Anonymous, (St Hardulph's)